We continued our series of 2001 Bordeaux tastings with a lovely set of rather
well-known estates from Saint-Julien and neighboring Pauillac.

The tasters seemed delighted with a number of the top wines and the fact that
these can be purchased for what seems like "reasonable" money.

The 2001 vintage wines are, generally, a bit less tannic and a shade less
intense than the highly-touted 2000s, for example.

One wine in this tasting ran away from the field, well ahead of the pack.
One bottle was "corked," though not everyone participating in the
tasting recognized it as a flawed sample (this is not unusual). And we had
two clusters of wines in the middle.

Here's what we found:

The Wines

Gerald's Rank

Ellen's Rank

Bob's Rank

GROUP RANK

Total Points

1sts/2nds/
Lasts

CHTEAU
DUCRU-BEAUCAILLOUSaint-Julien
$75

8
CORKED

8
CORKED

8
CORKED

8
CORKED

122

0/1/15

CHTEAU
DUHART-MILONPauillac
$30

7

4

5

7

78

1/1/1

CHTEAU
GRAND-PUY-LACOSTEPauillac
$42

6

7

7

5

76

2/1/0

CHTEAU
LOVILLE BARTONSaint-Julien
$54

2

5

2

2

61

1/3/0

CHTEAU
LOVILLE LAS CASESSaint-Julien
$108

5

2

4

4

66

1/3/0

LES
FORTS DE LATOURPauillac
$50

3

3

2

3

62

3/1/0

CHTEAU
PICHON BARONPauillac
$60

1

1

6

1

34

8/5/0

CHTEAU
PICHON-LALANDEPauillac
$88

4

6

3

6

77

0/1/0

8th Place: CHTEAU
DUCRU-BEAUCAILLOUWhat
bad luck! A corked bottle!!
I might point out that we had a corked sample of Ducru Beaucaillou in our recent
tasting of 2000 vintage versus 1999 vintage Bordeaux. What are the chances
of having a wine from the same estate being corked in two successive tastings?

7th Place: CHTEAU
DUHART-MILONOne taster found this to be "light and dilute, with a touch of
sweet licorice and bitter plum skin. There's some oak and it's a bit hot
on the palate. I also detected an odd, fungal note, too." Other
tasters used words such as "weak" or "thin" in
characterizing this wine. One person found it to be "drinkable now
and okay for a cheap wine (like $12)." Another taster said "It's
light, weak and raspberry-like with some sour cherry notes. I found it a
bit watery, too." A final critic said "It's soft, easy and not
very deep."
I found this to be sort of dusty on the nose and showing a bit of red
fruit. It was simply well behind the pack in terms of depth, intensity and
character. In the realm of being simply a red Bordeaux wine, this is
okay. In terms of being a noble "Pauillac," one might find it
lacking. Standard as Pauillac.

6th Place: CHTEAU
PICHON LALANDEThe group was a bit surprised to find this famous estate's wine not
faring as well as its reputation might suggest it should. (That's one
interesting facet of blind-tastings! The wine must speak for itself,
because the label cannot!)
"Crushed blackberry fruit notes here with some toasty oak and
tobacco. I also detected some black loam and rose petals." said one
taster. Another critic found this to be "sour and with a rough
finish." One person likened the fragrance to that of
"Pine-Sol," adding "this has some rather gritty tannins and some
chocolate notes, but it's far too tannic." More positively, someone
said it's "got good fruit up front and nice blackberry notes. I found
a note of black tea, too."
I enjoyed the dark fruit aromas and the blackcurrant notes on the nose
here. Yes, there's substantial "grip" to this wine, which I
found to be quite Bordeaux-like (quel surprise, eh?). The Cabernet
fruit really sings here. Lots of dusty notes and blackcurrant fruit on the
palate, too. I felt this can go 8-15 years, easily. One-and-a-half
stars on my three star scale, no stars being a standard quality wine.

5th Place: CHTEAU GRAND-PUY-LACOSTEOne critic found this to be a touch on the "light side,"
adding "It shows pleasant ripe berry fruit and some herbal notes, with
currants, a floral note and some tobacco." Another taster encountered
"musky notes." A third critic found "rich blackberry
fruit," while another got "loganberry fruit with spicy and dusty,
metallic tones. It's a bit low in acidity and shows some black licorice on
the palate." A final critic detected metallic and fishy notes."
I can't say I found anything fishy here! I noted this as being a nice
little Bordeaux with some red fruit notes and light oak on the nose. It
didn't strike me as particularly profound on the palate, however. I
thought it was a bit shallow in the mouth. It probably can be cellared for
a decade or so. One star is about right.

4th Place: CHTEAU LOVILLE LAS CASESOne taster felt the famed Loville "was light in the middle and
lacked fruit." Someone else said "It's cherry-like with some
raspberry on the nose and lightly oaked." A few tasters described
this as being somewhat medicinal. One person found some "weird, odd
notes with tart, wild-berry fruit. Saddle fragrances and some cigar box
elements are also present here." Another critic said this is "an
oak bomb with green, bitter tannins and some medicinal notes. There's a
coffee-ish quality, too. It started out okay, but went downhill."
I really liked the purity of the Cabernet aromas in this wine. I found it
to be more varietally correct than a great example of something showing
"Bordeaux" characteristics. I'd probably identify this, if
served it blind, as a "New World" Cabernet. It's really nice in
terms of fruit. Deep, dark and big, this can probably be cellared for a
decade or two. I gave it a one-and-a-half star rating as
"Bordeaux," but would rate it higher in the context of its being a
Cabernet Sauvignon-based red.

3rd Place: LES FORTS DE LATOUR"This is a generous red, with vanilla-infused, smoky, ripe
blackberry fruit with some perfumy currant notes." said one panel
member. Another person found "tobacco and currants and it's balanced,
but a bit short." Someone else advised "drinking this now,"
saying it's "soft, pleasant and has some tobacco and nice oak
notes." Another person guessed this to be "first growth-ish,"
while someone else detected "cigar box notes" and pegged it as being
the "Pichon Baron, perhaps?"
For me the nose was classically Bordeaux and classically Pauillac. I
described this as showing a lovely cedary bouquet and nice cigar box
fragrances. It's nicely balanced on the palate, having enough fruit to
match the tannin. Cedary. Woodsy. Fairly deep. I gave it
two stars and feel 8-15 years of cellaring is about right.

2nd Place: CHTEAU LOVILLE BARTONOne wag said "I wish I was the barrel sales rep to this
winery!" as he found this to show a lot of oak. Another taster
offered "This could be a wine from Caymus!" A third taster said
this shows "classy oak." A fourth critic found "herbal,
ripe, plummy fruit and some forest floor fragrances. It's got a slightly
cardboardy element and it's hot and bitter. Very tannic, too."
Another tasting participant found "Plummy fruit notes and fresh herbs and
spices, with a meaty quality. A touch of ash and tar are present along
with a vanillin, oaky finish."
I had this in first place most of the tasting, only dropping it to second at the
end. The nose offers lots of black fruit and plenty of sweet oak.
But I am not sure I'd peg it as a California wine or Napa Valley Cabernet,
specifically. It's big, deep, intense and rich on the palate,
though. Dark fruits. Plums. Two stars, easily. This can
be cellared a decade or two.

1st Place: CHTEAU PICHON BARONDescribed by one person as having a "nice big nose and lots of
cherry-like fruit," Pichon Baron ran away with the tasting. A second
person found notes of "mint and dust." Someone else guessed
"More trees died for this wine than any other!" Another taster
added "Yeah, but they died for a good cause!" Someone else said
"The oak is well-integrated with some lovely tobacco notes. It's
easily the best wine of the tasting!" Another person found this to be
"Mildly tart and showing black cherry fruit with a hint of basil.
It's a tad floral and has some berry notes, tart, wild-berry fruit and toast
along with a licorice note on the finish." Someone else felt the
"oak overpowered the fruit. There's a lot of black cherry and tannin
here." Another taster described it as having a "long
finish," while someone else detected a note of "coffee."
I really like the nose here. It was somehow "complete."
Dark fruits. Cedar. Nice oak. Toasty, but sweet fruit all the
way along. The same elements shine equally brightly on the palate.
Big, deep, rich and balanced. Terrific wine by any measure. I gave
it a two-and-a-half star rating.

Please note: The wines tasted are not always wines
we have (or have had) in the shop.
Many bottles are merely for our enological exploration.
Price quoted are current at the time of the tasting, but may be different
when you're reading this.

WE HAVE NOT ORGANIZED A TASTING IN A WHILE...
BUT WE DO POST THE RESULTS OF A PRIVATE TASTING GROUP THAT'S BEEN MEETING FOR
MORE THAN 40 YEARS!

We are working on
organizing some blind-tastings at the shop.
Send us a note to indicate your interest in participating.
These would be on Wednesday evenings and you'd need to bring 8 wine glasses.